Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 322

Reading 12 SM 12:1-7A, 10-17

The LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he came to him,Nathan said: “Judge this case for me!In a certain town there were two men, one rich, the other poor.The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers.But the poor man had nothing at allexcept one little ewe lamb that he had bought.He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children.She shared the little food he hadand drank from his cup and slept in his bosom.She was like a daughter to him.Now, the rich man received a visitor,but he would not take from his own flocks and herdsto prepare a meal for the wayfarer who had come to him.Instead he took the poor man’s ewe lamband made a meal of it for his visitor.”David grew very angry with that man and said to him:“As the LORD lives, the man who has done this merits death!He shall restore the ewe lamb fourfoldbecause he has done this and has had no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David: “You are the man!Thus says the LORD God of Israel:‘The sword shall never depart from your house,because you have despised meand have taken the wife of Uriah to be your wife.’Thus says the LORD:‘I will bring evil upon you out of your own house.I will take your wives while you live to see it,and will give them to your neighbor.He shall lie with your wives in broad daylight.You have done this deed in secret,but I will bring it about in the presence of all Israel,and with the sun looking down.’”

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”Nathan answered David: “The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin:you shall not die.But since you have utterly spurned the LORD by this deed,the child born to you must surely die.”Then Nathan returned to his house.

The LORD struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne to David,and it became desperately ill.David besought God for the child.He kept a fast, retiring for the nightto lie on the ground clothed in sackcloth.The elders of his house stood beside himurging him to rise from the ground; but he would not,nor would he take food with them.

AlleluiaJN 3:16

R. Alleluia, alleluia.God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MK 4:35-41

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:“Let us cross to the other side.”Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.And other boats were with him.A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,so that it was already filling up.Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.They woke him and said to him,“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”He woke up,rebuked the wind,and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”The wind ceased and there was great calm.Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?Do you not yet have faith?”They were filled with great awe and said to one another,“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

(Vatican Radio) In the first monthly Jubilee audience during this Year of Mercy, the Holy Father on Saturday spoke about the close relationship between mercy and mission.

Recalling the words of Saint John Paul II, the Pope said that his predecessor “reminded us that the Church lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy, and leads people to the source of mercy.”

Listen to Lydia O'Kane's report

As Christians, Pope Francis said, “we are called to be missionaries of the Gospel.”

He went on to say that just as we naturally seek to share with others the beautiful moments of our lives, we are called also and especially to share the joy of encountering Jesus Christ.

The Pope explained to those gathered in St Peter’s Square that to encounter Jesus was to experience his love, which transforms us and compels us, in turn, to share this love.

The Holy Father stressed that every Christian was the “bearer of Christ” and said that the mercy we receive from the Father is not given solely for our benefit, but for the good of all, by transforming us into instruments, missionaries of mercy.

The mercy that we receive from the Father, the Pope noted, was given to us as a private consolation, but it also makes us tools so that others can receive the same gift.

“Let us never tire of feeling the need of His forgiveness”, Pope Francis said, “because when we are weak, his proximity makes us strong and enables us to live with greater joy our faith.”

A religious of the Third Order of St. Francis and foundress of the Sacconi; born 1585 of a noble family at Vignanello, near Viterbo in Italy; died 30 January, 1640, at Viterbo; feast, 30 January; in Rome, 6 February (Diarium Romanum). Her parents were Marc' Antonio Mariscotti (Marius Scotus) and Ottavia Orsini. At Baptism she received the name Clarice and in early youth was remarkable for piety, but, as she grew older, she became frivolous, and showed a worldly disposition, which not even the almost miraculous saving of her life at the age of seventeen could change; neither was her frivolity checked by her education at the Convent of St. Bernardine at Viterbo, where an older sister had taken the veil. At the age of twenty she set her heart upon marriage with the Marquess Cassizucchi, but was passed by in favour of a younger sister. She was sadly disappointed, became morose, and at last joined the community at St. Bernardine, receiving the name Hyacintha. But, as she told her father, she did this only to hide her chagrin and not to give up the luxuries of the world; and she asked him to furnish her apartments with every comfort. She kept her own kitchen, wore a habit of the finest material, received and paid visits at pleasure.

For ten years she continued this kind of life, so contrary to the spirit of her vows and such a source of scandal to the community. By the special protection of God, she retained a lively faith, was regular in her devotions, remained pure, always showed a great respect for the mysteries of religion, and had a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin. At length she was touched by God's grace, and the earnest exhortations of her confessor at the time of serious illness made her see the folly of the past and brought about a complete change in her life. She made a public confession of her faults in the refectory, discarded her costly garments, wore an old habit, went barefoot, frequently fasted on bread and water, chastised her body by vigils and severe scourging, and practised mortifications to such an extent that the decree of canonization considers the preservation of her life a continued miracle. She increased her devotion to the Mother of God, to the Holy Infant Jesus, to the Blessed Eucharist, and to the sufferings of Christ. She worked numerous miracles, had the gifts of prophecy and of discerning the secret thoughts of others. She was also favoured by heavenly ecstacies and raptures. During an epidemic that raged in Viterbo she showed heroic charity in nursing the sick. She established two confraternities, whose members were called Oblates of Mary or Sacconi. One of these, similar to our Society of St. Vincent de Paul, gathered alms for the convalescent, for the poor who were ashamed to beg, and for the care of prisoners; the other procured homes for the aged. Though now leading a life so pure and holy, Hyacintha always conceived the greatest contempt for herself. At her death great sorrow was felt at Viterbo and crowds flocked to her funeral. She was beatified by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726, and canonized 14 May, 1807, by Pius VII.

To the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: faith is not only knowledge committed to memory, but truth lived in loveVatican City, 29 January 2016 (VIS) – "Mercy is the foundation of the life of the Church: the first truth of the Church, indeed, is Christ's love", were the opening words of the Holy Father's discourse to the participants in the plenary assembly of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whom he received in audience this morning in the Clementine Hall. The Pope went on to urge all the Christian people, both pastors and the faithful, to rediscover during this Jubilee the corporal and spiritual works of mercy as when, in the twilight of life, we are asked if we have given food to the hungry and given the thirsty water to drink, we will also be asked "if we have helped people to set their doubts aside, if we have committed ourselves to welcoming sinners, admonishing them and correcting them, if we have been able to combat ignorance, especially in relation to the Christian faith and the righteous life"."In faith and in charity a cognitive and unifying relationship is established with the mystery of Love, which is God Himself. The effective mercy of God became, in Jesus, affective mercy, as He made Himself man for the salvation of mankind. The task entrusted to your Dicastery here finds its ultimate foundation and and adequate justification. Christian faith, indeed, is not only knowledge to be committed to memory, but also truth to live in love. Therefore, along with the doctrine of the faith, it is also necessary to safeguard the integrity of customs, particularly in the most delicate areas of life. Adhering to faith in the person of Christ implies both an act of reason and a moral response to His gift. In this respect, I thank you for all your commitment and the responsibility you exercise in treating cases of abuse of minors by members of the clergy"."Safeguarding the integrity of faith and customs is a delicate task. Performing this mission well requires collegial commitment. … The correct synodality must be promoted at all levels of ecclesial life", added the Pope, citing in this respect the meeting organised by the Congregation with the Doctrinal Commissions of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe, enabling various doctrinal and pastoral challenges to be faced in a collegial way and thus inspiring in the faithful "a new missionary impulse and greater openness to the transcendent dimension of life, without which Europe runs the risk of losing its humanist spirit that it nevertheless loves and defends".Another significant contribution of the Congregation to the renewal of ecclesial life was its study on complementarity between hierarchical and charismatic gifts, called upon to collaborate in synergy for the good of the Church and the world, and whose relationship evokes the Trinitarian root, the bond between the divine Word made flesh and the Holy Spirit, which is always a gift of the Father and the Son."It is precisely this root, if acknowledged and listened to humbly, that permits the Church to let herself be renewed at any time. … Unity and plurality are the seal of a Church that, moved by the Spirit, knows how to walk with a sure and faithful step towards the purpose that the Risen Lord has indicated to them throughout history. Here we see clearly how the synodal dynamic, if correctly understood, is born from communion and leads towards an increasingly implemented, deepened and extended, in the service of the life and the mission of the People of God".

Two initiatives linked to the Jubilee: the Missionaries of Mercy and the translation to Rome of the relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina and St. Leopold MandicVatican City, 29 January 2016 (VIS) – This morning in the Holy See Press Office Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation, and Msgr. Graham Bell, under-secretary of the same dicastery, presented two initiatives linked to the Jubilee Year: the Missionaries of Mercy and the temporary translation to Rome of the relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina and St. Leopold Mandic."It is has been almost two months now since Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s", said Archbishop Fisichella. "Since that moment, the Doors of Mercy have been opened all around the world. The incredible number of people who have registered for these events allows us to acknowledge how this insight of Pope Francis, his idea of having this Extraordinary Jubilee, has answered a true need of the people of God who are receiving this event of grace with great joy and enthusiasm. We can conclude from this participation that the Jubilee is being intensely lived in all the world and in every local Church, where this time of grace is being organised as a genuine form of renewal for the Church and as a particular moment of the new evangelisation"."Every day we receive thousands of pictures and documents from around the world attesting to the commitment and the faith of believers", he continued. "Yet all of this activity has not stopped a substantial number of pilgrims from arriving in Rome during this period. According to the data available to us on a daily basis, as of today 1,392,000 people have participated in Jubilee events. An interesting detail is that 40 per cent of those who have attended come from abroad, speaking largely Spanish and French. We have registered pilgrims from Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Korea, Kenya, Mozambique, El Salvador, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, the Fiji Islands, Russia, Belarus, the Seychelles, the Ivory Coast, Chad, Kuwait, the U.S.A., Albania and from many other countries. I would like to reiterate that this is not the criteria by which to judge the actual outcome of the Jubilee. A Holy Year of mercy goes well beyond numbers, for it is intended to touch the hearts and the minds of people in order to assist them in coming to understand the ways in which God’s great love manifests itself in their daily lives. It is a time during which to assess our lives of faith and to understand how we are capable of conversion and renewal, both of which come from recognising the importance of remaining focused upon what is essential. In any case, a general evaluation of the Jubilee cannot be made after only two months but must be done at its conclusion. All of the other considerations at the moment are incomplete and temporary and, thus, do not merit particular attention".Archbishop Fisichella described two signs of the Holy Father's concrete witness of mercy. OnFriday, December 18, he opened the Door of Charity in the homeless shelter, “Don Luigi di Liegro”, where he celebrated Holy Mass in the refectory. On January 15, he visited first the “Bruno Buozzi” nursing home for the elderly in Torrespaccata, Rome, then the Casa Iride where he spent time with those in vegetative states who are being assisted by their families. "These signs possess a symbolic value before all of the many needs that are present in society today", he emphasised, "intended to stir in all of us a greater awareness of the many situations of need in our cities and to offer a small response of caring and aid".Following these reflections on the first two months of the Jubilee, the prelate presented two upcoming special events. The first is the presence in Rome of the reliquaries containing the relics of St. Leopold Mandic and St. Pio of Pietrelcina. "Such an occasion is of great significance for it is an unprecedented event, given the stories of these two saints who spent their lives in the service of the mercy of God. Fr. Leopold (1866-1942) was canonised by St. John Paul II on December 16, 1983 and is less well known than St. Pio. Yet, his hunger for holiness spread beyond the Church of Padua, where he lived the major part of his life and where his memory and his relics remain. Originally from Croatia, this Capuchin father dedicated all of his life to the confessional. For almost thirty years, he spent from ten to fifteen hours a day in the secrecy of his cell, the very place which became a confessional for thousands of people who found in their relationships with him the privileged witness of forgiveness and of mercy. Some of his brothers noted that he was 'ignorant and too lenient in forgiving everyone without discernment'. Yet, his simple and humble response to this charge leaves one speechless: 'Should the Crucified blame me for being lenient, I would answer Him: Lord, you gave me this bad example. I have not yet reached the folly of your having died for souls'".St. Pio (1887-1968), canonised in 2002 by St. John Paul II, "does not require lengthy presentation. This simple Capuchin friar spent his entire life at San Giovanni Rotondo without ever leaving that town. Certainly, during his life, some in Rome caused him to suffer, but his holiness always prevailed. In the silence of obedience, he also became a privileged witness of mercy, dedicating all of his life to the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are grateful to the Capuchin Fathers and to the Bishops of the Dioceses of Padua and Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo for having responded so graciously to the wish of the Pope that the relics of these two saints remain in Rome for a period of time during the Jubilee"."The program is quite simple", he explained. "The urns containing the relics will arrive in Rome on February 3 where they will be placed in the Church of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura. The church will be open to the faithful starting at 15:00 with a celebration of reception. The relics will remain in San Lorenzo until 20:30 the following day, during which time there will be a number of celebrations reserved for the vast extended Franciscan Family. An all-night vigil is being organised in the Jubilee Church of San Salvatore in Lauro, which will begin at 22:00on February 4. The prayer will continue until the following day, February 5, with various celebrations and will conclude with Holy Mass at 14:00 presided by His Excellency Michele Castoro, the Archbishop of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo. At 16:00, a procession with the two urns containing the relics will begin from San Salvatore in Lauro and then proceed the entire length of Via della Conciliazione in order to arrive at the parvis of St. Peter’s Basilica. There, Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, will receive the relics and after a moment of prayer, will then accompany the relics into the Basilica where they will be placed in the central nave before the Altar of the Confession for people to venerate. The relics will remain in St. Peter’s for veneration until the morning ofFebruary 11 when, after the Holy Mass of thanksgiving at 7:30 am at the Altar of the Chair, they will be returned to their original homes. It is opportune to note that on February 10, AshWednesday, the Basilica will remain closed in the morning for the General Audience and then, in the afternoon, Holy Mass will be celebrated in the Basilica to mark the beginning of Lent. Thus, those who wish to venerate the relics are kindly asked to choose to do so on one of the previous days and to follow along the Jubilee reserved walkway in order to e nter through the security check point as rapidly as possible".The second event is the celebration that will take place on Ash Wednesday, when the Holy Father will give the mandate to the Missionaries of Mercy. "As attested to in the Bull of Indiction, Misericordiae vultus, the Missionaries are to be a 'sign of the Church’s maternal solicitude for the People of God, enabling them to enter the profound richness of this mystery so fundamental to the faith. There will be priests to whom I will grant the authority to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See, so that the breadth of their mandate as confessors will be even clearer. They will be, above all, living signs of the Father’s readiness to welcome those in search of his pardon. They will be missionaries of mercy because they will be facilitators of a truly human encounter, a source of liberation, rich with responsibility for overcoming obstacles and taking up the new life of Baptism again. They will be led in their mission by the words of the Apostle: ‘For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all’”."Thus, the Missionaries of Mercy are a select number of priests who have received from the Pope the charge to be privileged witnesses in their respective Churches of the extraordinariness of this Jubilee event", explained the archbishop. "It is only the Pope who nominates these Missionaries, not the Bishops, and it is he who entrusts them with the mandate to announce the beauty of the mercy of God while being humble and wise confessors who possess a great capacity to forgive those who approach the confessional. The Missionaries, who come from every continent, number over 1,000. I am delighted to announce that there are Missionaries coming from many distant countries and, among these, some of which have a uniquely significant importance such as: Burma, Lebanon, China, South Korea, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Burundi, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Latvia, East Timor, Indonesia, Thailand, and Egypt. There will also be Oriental Rite priests"."We have received a great response for participation but must place a limit on the large number of requests in order to ensure that the specific sign value, one which expresses how truly special the initiative is, be maintained", he remarked. "All of the Missionaries have received the permission of their respective diocesan Bishops or Religious Superiors and will make themselves available to those requesting their services throughout the entirety of the Jubilee but, most especially, during the Lenten Season. There will be seven hundred Missionaries arriving in Rome. Pope Francis will meet with them on February 9 in order to express his feelings regarding this initiative which will certainly be one of the most touching and significant of the Jubilee of Mercy. On the following day, only the Missionaries of Mercy will concelebrate with the Holy Father, during which time they will receive the 'mandate', as well as the faculty to absolve those sins reserved to the Holy See. An interesting story may help to capture the pastoral interest that this initiative has garnered around the world. Father Richard from Australia will visit 27 communities in his rural Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle where there is only one church and no priests in residence. Traveling in a camper, he will journey from community to community as a 'Missionary of Mercy on Wheels'! This is but an example of the way in which the Jubilee is meant to reach all, allowing everyone to touch the closeness and the tenderness of God".Finally, other Jubilee events are planned. The first Jubilee Audience will be held in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday, January 30. "Pope Francis has responded generously to the many requests he has received from pilgrims who wish to meet him. Consequently, oneSaturday a month has been added to the official calendar for a special audience, one which will be in addition to the regular Wednesday Audiences. This first audience already has 20,000 people registered. Another event of particular interest is the Jubilee for the Curia, the Governorate, and Institutions connected to the Holy See to be held on 22 February. This celebration will begin with a reflection given by Fr. Marco Rupnik at 8:30 am in the Paul VI Hall. After this meditation, there will be a procession through St. Peter’s Square which will pass through the Holy Door. Holy Mass will then be celebrated by Pope Francis at 10 am"."The Jubilee continues to follow its course and we are certain that, in accord with the desires of Pope Francis, it will be an important opportunity to live out in our daily lives the mercy which the Father constantly extends to all of us”, concluded the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation.

World Leprosy Day: combating disease and reintegrating survivors in societyVatican City, 29 January 2016 (VIS) – Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, has written a message for the 63rd World Leprosy Day, the theme of which this year is "To live is to help to live"."This Day … constitutes for everyone an opportunity to continue with the fight against this terrible infection, as well as to weaken the ostracism that often burdens the people who carry its unmistakable signs", writes the prelate. "This is a marginalisation that can be traced back to a natural sense of self-defence in relation to a disease which at one time was incurable, and to an almost ‘ancestral’ fear which, however, today no longer has any reason to exist given that leprosy can be defeated and those who have been cured of it can go back to living"."Making its own the commitment of the Church to caring for people with leprosy and supporting those who have been cured of it, and in order to increase the sensitivity of men and women of good will, our Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, cooperating, respectively, with the Sasakawa Foundation and the Raoul Follereau Foundation, has organised two study days which will be held on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 June 2016 in the Vatican. At that event, those taking part will be able to be present at the celebration of the Eucharist presided over by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday 12 June, on the occasion of the Jubilee for the Sick and Disabled"."We must feel ourselves committed to finding a new impetus against this disease, broadening activities involving information and prevention, but above all fostering, as a gesture of true ‘com-passion’, the social and occupational reintegration of those who have been cured of it and who – despite the fact that they carry the marks of this disease on their bodies – have maintained intact their dignity as persons", concludes Msgr. Zimowski.

AudiencesVatican City, 29 January 2016 (VIS) – The Holy Father received in audience:- Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA);- Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity;- Archbishop Luciano Suriani, apostolic nuncio in Serbia.

Other Pontifical ActsVatican City, 29 January 2016 (VIS) – The Holy Father:- appointed Msgr. Luigi Mansi as bishop of Andria (area 799, population 139,977, Catholics 138,000, priests 89, permanent deacons 7, religious 104), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Cerignola, Italy in 1952 and was ordained a priest in 1975. He holds a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Lateran University and a doctorate in theological anthropology from the Pugliese Theological Faculty. He has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles in the diocese of Cerignola-Ascoli Satriano, including vice rector of the episcopal seminary, rector of the diocesan seminary, head of vocational pastoral ministry, director and lecturer in theology at the diocesan Institute of Religious Sciences and the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of the Pontifical Lateran University, master of ceremonies, episcopal chancellor and parish priest. He is currently episcopal vicar for pastoral ministry, and member of the episcopal council, the presbyteral council and the college of consultors. In 1991 he was named Chaplain of His Holiness. He succeeds Bishop Raffaele Calabro, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.- elevated Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J., secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, to the dignity of bishop.

Pope Francis meets with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. - OSS_ROM

29/01/2016 12:46

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the participants in the annual Plenary Session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on Friday in the Vatican.

Listen to Christopher Altieri's report:

The CDF is tasked with a range of responsibilities, from determining the doctrinal soundness of theological and catechetical works, to advising and giving judgment on matters relating to areas like medicine and bioethics, to conducting canonical trials in cases of child sex abuse by clergy – work for which the Holy Father had words of praise and encouragement.

Pope Francis focused his broad-ranging remarks around three distinct points: the inter-relatedness of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy; the importance of collegiality in ecclesial life and governance; the complementary relationship of charismatic and hierarchical gifts in the life and mission of the Church.

“When, in the evening of life,” said Pope Francis, “it shall be asked of us what we did to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty, equally shall it be asked of us if we helped people find their way out of doubt, if we were committed to welcoming sinners – admonishing or correcting them, if we were capable of combatting ignorance, especially that ignorance which regards Christian faith and the good life.”

The Pope went on to praise the initiatives of the CDF in building and strengthening rapports with various bishops’ conferences, especially those of Europe, which, he said, “contribute to stirring up in the faithful a new missionary élan and a greater openness to the transcendent dimension of life, without which Europe risks losing that humanistic spirit which she loves and defends.”

Pope Francis went on to explain that the Church’s hierarchical structure and the movements of the Spirit in the Church’s life are both gifts of God to be cherished and nurtured, especially through an ever-greater appreciation of Synodality. “The relation between the hierarchical and charismatic gifts, in fact, directs us to its Trinitarian root, in the bond that unites the divine Logos incarnate and the Holy Spirit, who is always a gift of the Father and the Son.”

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. On Friday, Pope Francis said that, although we are sinners, we must pray God that we never become corrupt, imagining that we do not need forgiveness. - OSS_ROM

29/01/2016 11:37

(Vatican Radio) Let us pray to God that the weakness that leads us to sin will never lead to corruption. This was the theme of Pope Francis homily at daily Mass on Friday morning, a theme he has taken up many times. Beginning with the first reading, which tells the story of David and Bathsheba, the Pope distinguished between regular sinners and those who are corrupt. Unlike regular sinners, the corrupt do not feel the need for forgiveness.

Listen to Christopher Wells' report:

One can sin often, and always return to God seeking forgiveness, never doubting that it will be obtained. It is especially when one becomes corrupt – when one no longer sees the need to be forgiven – that problems begin.

The corrupt feel they don’t need God

This is the attitude King David assumes when he becomes enamoured with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, an army officer fighting on the frontlines. The Pope outlined the story narrated in the Scripture. After David seduced Bathsheba, he found out that she was pregnant, and he hatched a plot to cover-up his adultery. He recalled Uriah from the front and encouraged him to visit his wife. Uriah, though, did not go to his wife, but stayed with the other officers in the king’s palace. David then tried to get him drunk, but this plan also fails.

“This puts David in a difficult position,” the Pope said. “But he says to himself, ‘I can do it.’ He sends a letter, as we read: ‘Place Uriah up front, where the fighting is fierce. Then pull back and leave him to be struck down dead.’ He condemns him to death. This man, this faithful man [Uriah] – faithful to the law, faithful to his people, faithful to his king – carries his own death sentence.”

The security of corruption

“David is a saint, but also a sinner.” He falls on account of lust, the Pope said, and yet God still loves him very much. However, the Pope notes, “the great, the noble David” feels so secure – “because the kingdom was strong” – that after having committed adultery he does everything in his power to arrange the death of a loyal man, falsely passing it off as an accidental death in battle:

“This is a moment in David’s life that makes us see a moment through which we all can pass in our life: it is the passage from sin to corruption. This is where David begins, taking the first step towards corruption. He has the power, he has the strength. And for this reason, corruption is a very easy sin for all of us who have some power, whether it be ecclesiastical, religious, economic, political… Because the devil makes us feel certain: ‘I can do it’.”

Sinners, yes; but not corrupt

Corruption – from which David was saved by the grace of God – had wounded the heart of that “courageous youth” who had faced the Philistine with a sling and five small stones. “Today I want to emphasize only one thing,” the Pope concluded. “There is a moment where the attitude of sin, or a moment where our situation is so secure and we see well and we have so much power” that sin “stops” and becomes “corruption.” And “one of the ugliest things” about corruption is that the one who becomes corrupt thinks he has “no need for forgiveness.”

“Today, let us offer a prayer for the Church, beginning with ourselves, for the Pope, for the Bishops, for the priests, for consecrated men and women, for the lay faithful: ‘Lord, save us, save us from corruption. We are sinners, yes, O Lord, all of us, but [let us] never [become] corrupt!’ Let us ask for this grace.”

2016

Information:

Feast Day:

January 24

Born:

516, traditionally Strathclyde in modern Scotland

Died:

570, Street, Somerset or Rhuys

Major Shrine:

Glastonbury Abbey, now destroyed, or Rhuys Church, extant.

Patron of:

Welsh historians; bell founders

He was son to a British lord, who to procure him a virtuous education, placed him in his infancy in the monastery of St. Iltutus in Glamorganshire. The surname of Badonicus was given him, because, as we learn from his writings, he was born in the year in which the Britons under Aurelius Ambrosius, or, according to others, under king Arthur, gained the famous victory over the Saxons at Mount Badon, now Bannesdown, near Bath, in Somersetshire. This Bede places in the forty-fourth year after the first coming of the Saxons into Britain, which was in 451. Our saint, therefore, seems to have been born in 494; he was consequently younger than St. Paul, St. Samson, and his other illustrious school-fellows in Wales: but by his prudence and seriousness in his youth he seemed to have attained to the maturity of judgment and gravity of an advanced age. The author of the life of St. Paul of Leon, calls him the brightest genius of the school of St. Iltut. His application to sacred studies was uninterrupted, and if he arrived not at greater perfection in polite literature, this was owing to the want of masters of that branch in the confusion of those times. As to improve himself in the knowledge of God and himself was the end of all his studies, and all his reading was reduced to the study of the science of the saints, the greater progress he made in learning, the more perfect he became in all virtues. Studies which are to many a source of dissipation, made him more and more recollected, because in all books he found and relished only God, whom alone he sought. Hence sprang that love for holy solitude, which, to his death, was the constant ruling inclination of his heart. Some time after his monastic profession, with the consent, and perhaps by the order of his abbot, St. Iltut, he passed over into Ireland, there to receive the lessons of the admirable masters of a religious life, who had been instructed in the most sublime maxims of an interior life, and formed to the practice of perfect virtue, by the great St. Patrick. The author of his Acts compares this excursion, which he made in the spring of his life, to that of the bees in the season of flowers, to gather the juices which they convert into honey. In like manner St. Gildas learned, from the instructions and examples of the most eminent servants of God, to copy in his own life whatever seemed most perfect. So severe were his continual fasts, that the motto of St. John Baptist might in some degree be applied to him, that he scarce seemed to eat or drink at all. A rough hair-cloth, concealed under a coarse cloak, was his garment, and the bare floor his bed, with a stone for his bolster.

By the constant mortification of his natural appetites, and crucifixion of his flesh, his life was a prolongation of his martyrdom, or a perpetual sacrifice which he made of himself to God in union with that which he daily offered to him on his altars. If it be true that he preached in Ireland in the reign of king Ammeric, he must have made a visit to that island from Armorica, that prince only beginning to reign in 560: this cannot be ascribed to St. Gildas the Albanian, who died before that time. It was about the year 527, in the thirty-fourth of his age, that St. Gildas sailed to Armorica, or Brittany, in France: for he wrote his invective ten years after his arrival there, and in the forty-fourth year of his age, as is gathered from his life and writings. Here he chose for the place of his retirement the little isle of Houac, or Houat, between the coast of Rhuis and the island of Bellisle, four leagues from the latter. Houat exceeds not a league in length; the isle of Hoedre is still smaller, not far distant: both are so barren as to yield nothing but a small quantity of corn. Such a solitude, which appeared hideous to others, offered the greatest charms to the saint, who desired to fly, as much as this mortal state would permit, whatever could interrupt his commerce with God. Here he often wanted the common necessaries and conveniences of life; but the greater the privation of earthly comforts was in which he lived, the more abundant were those of the Holy Ghost which he enjoyed, in proportion as the purity of his affections and his love of heavenly things were more perfect. The saint promised himself that he should live here always unknown to men: but it was in vain for him to endeavor to hide the light of divine grace under a bushel, which shone forth to the world, notwithstanding all the precautions which his humility took to conceal it. Certain fishermen who discovered him were harmed with his heavenly deportment and conversation, and made known on the continent the treasure they had found. The inhabitants flocked from the coast to hear the lessons of divine wisdom which the holy anchoret gave with a heavenly unction which penetrated their hearts. To satisfy their importunities, St. Gildas at length consented to live among them on the continent, and built a monastery at Rhuis, in a peninsula of that name, which Guerech, the first lord of the Britons about Vannes, is said to have bestowed upon him. This monastery was soon filled with excellent disciples and holy monks. St. Gildas settled them in good order; then, sighing after closer solitude, he withdrew, and passing beyond the gulf of Vannes, and the promontory of Quiberon, chose for his habitation a grot in a rock, upon the bank of the river Blavet, where he found a cavern formed by nature extended from the east to the west, which on that account he converted into a chapel. However, he often visited this abbey of Rhuis, and by his counsels directed many in the paths of true virtue. Among these was St. Trifina, daughter of Guerech, first British count of Vannes. She was married to count Conomor, lieutenant of king Childebert, a brutish and impious man, who afterwards murdered her, and the young son which he had by her, who at his baptism received the name of Gildas, and was godson to our saint: but he is usually known by the surname of Treuchmour, or Tremeur, in Latin 'Trichmorus. SS. Trifina and Treuchmeur are invoked in the English Litany of the seventh century, in Mabillon. The great collegiate church of Carhaix bears the name of St. Treuchmour: the church of Quim per keeps his feast on the 8th of November, on which day he is commemorated in several churches in Brittany, and at St. Magloire's at Paris. A church situated between Corlai and the abbey of Coetmaloon in Brittany, is dedicated to God under the invocation of St. Trifina.

St. Gildas wrote eight canons of discipline, and a severe invective against the crimes of the Britons, called De Excidio Britanniae, that he might confound those whom he was not able to convert, and whom God in punishment delivered first to the plunders of the Picts and Scots, and afterwards to the perfidious Saxons, the fiercest of all nations. He reproaches their kings, Constantine, (king of the Danmonians, in Devonshire and Cornwall,) Vortipor, (of the Dimetians, in South Wales,) Conon, Cuneglas, and Maglocune, princes in other parts of Britain, with horrible crimes: but Constantine was soon after sincerely converted, as Gale informs us from an ancient Welsh chronicle. According to John Fordun he resigned his crown, became a monk, preached the faith to the Scots and Picts, and died a martyr in Kintyre: but the apostle of the Scots seems to have been a little more ancient than the former. Our saint also wrote an invective against the British clergy, whom he accuses of sloth of seldom sacrificing at the altar &c. In his retirement he ceased not with tears to recommend to God his own cause, or that of his honor and glory, and the souls of blind sinners, and died in his beloved solitude in the island of Horac, (in Latin Horata,) according to Usher, in 570, but according to Ralph of Disse, in 581.[6] St. Gildas is patron of the city of Vannes. The abbey which bears his name in the peninsula of Rhuis, between three and four leagues from Vannes, is of the reformed congregation of St. Maur since the year 1649. The relics of St. Gildas were carried thence for fear of the Normans into Berry, about the year 919, and an abbey was erected there on the banks of the river Indre, which was secularized and united to the collegiate church of Chateauroux in 1623. St. Gildas is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on the 29th of January. A second commemoration of him is made in some places on the 11th of May, on account of the translation of his relics. His life, compiled from the ancient archives of Rhuis by a monk of that house, in the eleventh century, is the best account we have of him, though the author confounds him sometimes with St. Gildas the Albanian. It is published in the library of Fleury, in Bollandus, p. 954, and most correctly in Mabillon, Act. SS. Ord. Saint Bened. t. 1, p. 138. See also Dom Lobineau, Vies des Saints de Bretagne, (for. an. 1725,) p. 72, and Hist. de la Bretagne, (2 vol. fol. an. 1707) and the most accurate Dom Morice, Memoires sur l'Histoire de Bretagne, 3 vol. fol. in 1745, and Hist. de la Bretagne, 2 vol. fol. an. 1750.

SOURCE: Ewtn

Friday of the Third Week of Ordinary TimeLectionary: 321

Reading 12 SM 11:1-4A, 5-10A, 13-17

At the turn of the year, when kings go out on campaign,David sent out Joab along with his officersand the army of Israel,and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.David, however, remained in Jerusalem.One evening David rose from his siestaand strolled about on the roof of the palace.From the roof he saw a woman bathing, who was very beautiful.David had inquiries made about the woman and was told,“She is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam,and wife of Joab’s armor bearer Uriah the Hittite.”Then David sent messengers and took her.When she came to him, he had relations with her.She then returned to her house.But the woman had conceived,and sent the information to David, “I am with child.”

David therefore sent a message to Joab,“Send me Uriah the Hittite.”So Joab sent Uriah to David.When he came, David questioned him about Joab, the soldiers,and how the war was going, and Uriah answered that all was well.David then said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and bathe your feet.”Uriah left the palace,and a portion was sent out after him from the king’s table.But Uriah slept at the entrance of the royal palacewith the other officers of his lord, and did not go downto his own house.David was told that Uriah had not gone home.On the day following, David summoned him,and he ate and drank with David, who made him drunk.But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his bedamong his lord’s servants, and did not go down to his home.The next morning David wrote a letter to Joabwhich he sent by Uriah.In it he directed:“Place Uriah up front, where the fighting is fierce.Then pull back and leave him to be struck down dead.”So while Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriahto a place where he knew the defenders were strong.When the men of the city made a sortie against Joab,some officers of David’s army fell,and among them Uriah the Hittite died.

Responsorial PsalmPS 51:3-4, 5-6A, 6BCD-7, 10-11

R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.Thoroughly wash me from my guiltand of my sin cleanse me.R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.For I acknowledge my offense,and my sin is before me always:“Against you only have I sinned,and done what is evil in your sight.”R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.I have done such evil in your sightthat you are just in your sentence,blameless when you condemn.True, I was born guilty,a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;the bones you have crushed shall rejoice.Turn away your face from my sins,and blot out all my guilt.R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

AlleluiaSEE MT 11:25

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMK 4:26-34

Jesus said to the crowds:“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the landand would sleep and rise night and dayand the seed would sprout and grow,he knows not how.Of its own accord the land yields fruit,first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,for the harvest has come.”

He said,“To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God,or what parable can we use for it?It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plantsand puts forth large branches,so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”With many such parableshe spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.Without parables he did not speak to them,but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.